The Asia Foundation

The British High Commission in Sri Lanka announces the opening of the Tamil-language training center for police officers. With support from The Asia Foundation and the British High Commission, the center aims to build trust between Tamil communities and predominantly Sinhalese-speaking security forces. Read the full article: “UK assistance to address language barriers of police officers.”

In an article in The New Nation, The Asia Foundation is mentioned as one of five missions that will monitor the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) elections. Read the full article: “SQC held ahead of today’s CCC polls: Supporters block Ctg-Cox’s Bazar road.”

In a Sunday Times article detailing a project to preserve and catalog archival documentaries and newsreels from Sri Lanka’s post-independence era, The Asia Foundation is mentioned for assisting in the creation of hard-bound catalogs of all the films. Read the full article: “Reel back in time and fact.”

San Francisco and Canberra

As the international community searches for new ways to deliver aid and assistance in places affected by conflict and state fragility, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and The Asia Foundation have formed a strategic partnership to enhance current approaches and explore new methods for supporting development, building peace and prosperity, and improving aid effectiveness. The agreement was signed at the Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C. on March 26, 2010 by Peter Baxter, Acting Director General of AusAID, and Douglas Bereuter, president and CEO of The Asia Foundation.

“This partnership is formed to bring together our collective experience in order to better address some of the most challenging questions facing the international community today,” said Douglas Bereuter, president and CEO of The Asia Foundation. “How can we think differently, and act differently, to improve conditions for those in turbulent, fragile societies, where people live in constant threat and development cannot take hold? The combined experience of our two organizations includes nearly every conflict-affected and fragile country in the Asia-Pacific region. I believe that this partnership has the potential to transform the way we work together across the region—and will contribute to global efforts to improve aid effectiveness.”

The goal of the partnership is to deepen and expand the strategies of AusAID, The Asia Foundation, and the international community to deliver aid and security in regions where the pace of development has fallen dramatically, especially where conditions have deteriorated. The partnership will include regular dialogue, collaboration, and joint program activities in Asia through June 2013. This new international effort builds on AusAID’s expertise in post-conflict reconstruction and The Asia Foundation’s recognized strengths in working on protracted sub-national conflicts, and building extensive networks in conflict-affected nations and regions.

Engagement between AusAID and The Asia Foundation has increased significantly in recent years, and the partnership agreement covering the next 39 months is designed to complement existing agreements at the country level by promoting greater sharing of knowledge and strategic concepts between the two organizations.

ABOUT AUSAID
AusAID is the Australian Government agency responsible for managing Australia’s overseas aid program. The objective of the aid program is to assist developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with Australia’s national interest. In 2009–10 Australia will provide $3.8 billion worth of official development assistance. Australia’s aid program focuses on the Asia Pacific region. The international community recognises Australia’s leading role in the region, particularly in PNG and the Pacific. The geographic focus of Australia’s aid program also makes sense given that two thirds of the world’s poor, some 800 million people, live in the Asia Pacific, yet receive less than one third of total aid flows. Australia’s broadened aid program provides assistance to Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and South America, primarily through scholarships and by working through international and non-government organisations.

For more information, please visit our Press Room.

In a USAID press release announcing the religious leaders conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on “the role of religious and community leaders in advancing development in Asia,” The Asia Foundation is credited for co-hosting the three-day event March 21-24. Read the full article: “U.S. Sponsors Bangladesh Conference for Religious and Community Leaders on Advancing Development in Asia.”

An article in Sri Lanka’s Daily News about a counseling training course for psychosocial volunteers working with Internally Displaced Persons in Vavuniyain mentions The Asia Foundation’s support for the course. Read the full article: “Diploma course for psychosocial volunteers.”

SAN FRANCISCO and COLOMBO

The Asia Foundation recently welcomed Ms. Gita Sabharwal as its new Deputy Country Representative in Sri Lanka. Ms. Sabharwal previously served as a Social Development Adviser for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in India and Vietnam. She has developed and managed programs across sectors ranging from poverty reduction, social protection, civil society, decentralization, gender equality, and public enterprise reform. She has also managed DFID’s partnerships in those countries with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

From 1995 to 1999, Ms. Sabharwal was a Program Officer with GTZ India, and from 1991 to 1995 served as Program Officer with Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, an Indian non-governmental organization.

Ms. Sabharwal received her B.A. in Sociology and her M.A. in Psychology from Delhi University. She received her M.A. in Development Management from the University of Wales, UK.

The Asia Foundation’s programs in Sri Lanka support local efforts to promote greater citizen participation in policymaking and governance; access to justice; and recovery from conflict. The Asia Foundation’s programs there seek to identify and support organizations and institutions that promote democratic governance and the rule of law as essential for lasting peace and prosperity.

For more information, please visit our Press Room.

On Wednesday, October 7, The Asia Foundation’s private fundraising teams, spearheaded by Corporate and Foundation Relations Director Nayna Agrawal, hosted an informational discussion featuring our flagship program, Books for Asia. The call provides an overview of Books for Asia, with a case study on our program in Sri Lanka. Speaking on the call were Books for Asia Director Melody Zavala; Books for Asia Sri Lanka Director Anton Nallathamby; Vijitha Ratnayake, Deputy Chief Corporate Officer of Sri Lanka Telecom, a major corporate donor to the Books for Asia Sri Lanka program; and Steve Zimmerman, Chief Operating Officer of Room to Read, a Books for Asia partner in multiple countries.

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The one-hour call was recorded and is included here for you to listen in. For questions or further information, please contact Nayna Agrawal at nagrawal@asiafound.org.

An article in The Daily News that announces the Local Government National Symposium 2009 to include 330 participants from the local authorities and provincial councils, government practitioners, academia, and the corporate sector, cites The Asia Foundation and the Australian Agency for International Development for supporting the event. Read the full article: “Local Government Symposium.”

An article in The Island features Sri Lanka Telecom’s collaboration with The Asia Foundation to distribute 1295 books to 37 schools in Sri Lanka’s Kandy district. The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia Director in Sri Lanka Anton Nallathamby is mentioned as attending the distribution ceremony. Read the full article: “SLT spreads the wealth of knowledge.”

A Daily Mirror article features The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia donation to 37 schools in the Kandy district at the Mahamaya Balika Vidyalaya Kandy in Sri Lanka. Statements by Anton Nallathamby, Books for Asia’s Director in Sri Lanka, on the importance libraries and reading have on children were also featured. Read the full article: “Asia Foundation donates books.”

A Daily Mirror article features The Asia Foundation’s recent donation of a large consignment of English books to 141 schools in the Hatton Education Zone at Bosco College in Sri Lanka. Books for Asia’s director in Sri Lanka, Anton Nallathamby, addressed the guests during a ceremony announcing the donation. Read the full article: “Asia Foundation donates English books.”

A Daily Mirror article features The Asia Foundation’s book donation to the Bintenna Govt. Junior School in Kirama, a remote school in the Hambantota district attended by the children of low income families. Read the full article “Asia Foundation donates books to school.”

The Asia Foundation’s philanthropic affiliate, Give2Asia, is cited for its support of the launch of the Chefs Guild of Sri Lanka’s program that aims to cook 30,000 meals a day for those in the IDP camps is cited in a Sunday Times article. Sharadha de Saram is quoted and listed as a Give2Asia program consultant. Read the full article: “Recipe for relief.”

In a New York Times article about the Sri Lankan government’s defeat of the Tamil Tigers that ended the over 25 year-long civil war there, The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Sri Lanka Nilan Fernando is quoted. Read the full article: “War’s End in Sri Lanka: Bloody Family Triumph.”

A Daily Mirror news brief features Books for Asia’s large book donation to 30 schools in Galle at a ceremony event on Thursday. Books for Asia’s program officer in Sri Lanka Shamani Nagendran was mentioned as having attended the event. Read the full article: “Books for Southern schools from The Asia Foundation.”

San Francisco and Colombo

Today, The Asia Foundation announced the appointment of Meloney C. Lindberg as Deputy Country Representative in Sri Lanka, effective December 8. Ms. Lindberg brings 14 years of hands-on management experience in programs related to women, small grants administration, conflict resolution, and civil society development in Asia.

“Meloney is a seasoned development professional and manager who will bring her wealth of experience, sound judgment, and diplomatic skills to the Foundation’s operations in Sri Lanka,” said Nilan Fernando, The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Sri Lanka. “Here, the Foundation focuses on strengthening subnational governance, access to justice, and community-based responses to conflict, and Meloney’s track record working in these areas with government and civil society partners and a host of donor agencies promises to help keep the Foundation’s programs on the leading edge of efforts to improve governance in Sri Lanka,” Fernando added.

Prior to becoming Deputy Country Representative in Sri Lanka, Ms. Lindberg was The Asia Foundation’s Deputy Country Representative in Afghanistan since 2004, where she provided management and oversight of the Foundation’s largest country program with a budget of $30 million per annum and 170 staff and consultants. The Afghanistan program focuses on institutional strengthening of governance, civil society, education, and media. Ms. Lindberg made special contributions to the advancement of women and girls through education and pioneering initiatives that strengthened women’s rights within an Islamic perspective. She managed a ten-member team on a five-year project with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, providing support to put in place a temporary Afghan Government Media Center where journalists will have access to a fully-equipped center for press conferences and information on government priorities and policies, and oversaw a program to improve and streamline information and communications technology infrastructure in five key government ministries through the implementation of secure systems.

Ms. Lindberg first joined The Asia Foundation in 1994 as a program officer in Nepal, where she assisted in developing programs on women’s legal rights and pilot projects for community mediation and civic education. In 1998, Ms. Lindberg joined Development Alternatives, Inc. where she managed a study of women’s organizations in post-conflict settings for United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Center for Development Information and Evaluation and was also the project director for a global small grants initiative focused on property and inheritance rights, women’s working conditions, and conservation-based income generating opportunities for women. In 2002, she rejoined The Asia Foundation in Manila as an Assistant Representative, where she developed new program ideas in the areas of Information and Communications Technology, e-governance, and corporate good governance.

Ms. Lindberg received her B.A. in International Studies from Miami University in Ohio and her M.A. in International and Intercultural Management at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont.

The Asia Foundation’s programs in Sri Lanka date back to 1954 and have focused on supporting local efforts to: strengthen democratic institutions and the rule of law; manage and resolve conflict; promote greater citizen participation in policymaking and governance; and improve the policy environment for broad-based economic growth. In Sri Lanka, the Foundation has been a pioneer in strengthening local government institutions, community-based legal services and mediation for the poor, and public-private partnerships to improve the business environment. To support proficiency in English and a culture of reading in Sri Lanka, the Foundation distributes approximately 80,000 new English-language books each year to schools and libraries throughout the country, many of them children’s books.

Read more about our projects in Sri Lanka.

The Asia Foundation has been cited in Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror for having partnered with Sri Lanka Telecom to donate Braille books to the School of the Blind at Ratmalana.

Read the story about the Braille book donation in Sri Lanka.

The Asia Foundation is supporting next week’s “International Workshop on Autonomy and Armed Separatism in South and Southeast Asia” to be held in Singapore. The Foundation’s Steven Rood, Country Representative, Philippines and Pacific Island Nations Regional Advisor for Local Governance, and Thomas Parks, Regional Director for Conflict and Governance, will be speaking at the event. This international workshop promotes a multidisciplinary approach towards understanding national identity problems in seven South and Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Burma, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Thailand, India and Indonesia’s former province of Timor Leste (formerly East Timor).

The event is being jointly hosted by Asia Research Institute and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and is also being supported by the Centre on Asia and Globalisation. For more information including registration, please visit the Asia Research Institute’s event page.

San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Berkeley, CA – March 26, 2008
Palo Alto, CA – March 27, 2008
San Francisco, CA – March 28, 2008
Washington, D.C. – April 1, 2008

The Asia Foundation has pioneered a tool called the local “Economic Governance Index” (EGI) as a way to measure business-friendliness of local governments in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The EGI highlights provinces most open to private enterprise and least encumbered by red-tape when it comes to business set up, for example: entry and licensing costs, inspections and registration waiting periods, transparency, access to training and legal institutions.

The governments of these provinces have embraced the EGI as a tool to help them measure local reforms and government performance, and there has been public increased attention when index standings are announced, resulting in competition among provinces. As a result, businesses and entrepreneurs have begun to see it as a useful means of deciding where to put businesses. A team of economic experts are hosting a series of programs this Spring on this compelling index. We hope you are able to join one of the presentations.

Expert Speakers:

Bruce Tolentino, Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs at The Asia Foundation, San Francisco
Edmund Malesky, Asia Foundation partner and Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego
Veronique Salze-Lozac’h, Regional Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs, The Asia Foundation, Cambodia
Neil McCulloch, Director of Economic Programs, The Asia Foundation, Indonesia

Berkeley – Wednesday, March 26, 2008: 10:00 am-1:00 pm, lunch included
UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) Library
109 Moses Hall, U.C. Berkeley Campus, Berkeley
Co-sponsored by Center for South Asia Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, and Institute of Governmental Studies

Palo Alto – Thursday, March 27, 2008: 4:30–6:00pm
Stanford University’s Donald L. Lucas Conference Center
Corner of Galvez and Serra Streets, Stanford University Campus, Palo Alto
Co-sponsored by Stanford’s Center for International Development

San Francisco – Friday, March 28, 2008: noon–2:00 pm, lunch included
The Asia Foundation’s Haydn Williams Conference Room
465 California Street, 8th floor, San Francisco
Co-sponsored by Cal-Asia Business Council

For Bay Area events listed above, please reply by March 19, 2008 to rsvp@asiafound.org or 415 743-3347 with your name, affiliation, contact information, and the location/date of the one EGI presentation you would like to attend.

Washington, D.C. – Tuesday, April 1, 2008
For more information about the Washington D.C. event, please contact The Asia Foundation’s Washington office at rsvp@asiafound-dc.org.
Space is limited at all  locations.
You will be sent a confirmation within 2 business days of your request.